Going the Distance
Do you constantly run out of gas? Increasing your endurance with yoga can improve your stamina, both physically and mentally.
By Nancy Coulter-Parker
Page:
1
2
3
When you hear the word "endurance," what comes to mind? Completing a marathon and barely being out of breath? Your ability to do infinite sets of bench presses? Or perhaps just being able to finish a Spinning class without feeling completely wiped out? Clayton Horton, director of Greenpath Yoga Studio in San Francisco and a former triathlete and competitive swimmer, states that endurance is simply "the ability to persevere," whether doing an aerobic or an anaerobic activity. Many athletic endeavors are a combination of both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Try to think of your body's energy systems in terms of a time continuum, says Robert F. Zoeller, Ph.D., an assistant professor of exercise physiology at Florida Atlantic University. "Purely anaerobic activities last less than a minute, such as sprinting, most types of weight lifting, throwing a baseball, or spiking a volleyball," he says.
"However, as the duration increases beyond several minutes, the contribution of anaerobic metabolism decreases while that of aerobic metabolism increases." Something that requires around four to five minutes to complete, like running the mile or swimming a 400-meter freestyle, relies on both energy systems. Activities that are sustained for more than 20 minutes are generally considered aerobic, although there are exceptions. For example, basketball requires aerobic endurance as well as quick bursts of speed and the ability to jump, which is anaerobic. The greater your aerobic and anaerobic endurance, the better able you are to sustain exercise for a prolonged period of time. Improving your endurance can make your cardiovascular and respiratory systems more efficient and decrease both your resting heart rate and stress levels; it can also increase your metabolism, help you maintain a healthy posture, reduce fatigue, and prevent injuries and back problems.
Yoga can help improve your endurance because it can increase stamina on several different levels—physical, physiological, and mental—depending on your specific needs. For example, one of the keys to endurance is to better utilize your oxygen intake. The body relies on oxygen for producing energy while exercising, and so a person with good endurance has a greater capacity to deliver oxygen to the working muscles that make use of this oxygen during exercise. This is one of the main reasons why an unfit person fatigues much sooner than someone in better shape, and it is also why an athlete can sometimes surpass competition of equal talent.
Next
 
| 
